Residents near Garfield Park show concern after music festival leaves trash, tire marks behind

INDIANAPOLIS — After two days of live music, art and food, WonderRoad Music Festival says it will be back next year. Organizers say the event, held at Garfield Park, sold out.

The company that owns the festival was still cleaning up as of Wednesday despite the festival ending over the weekend.

Several photos were shared with WRTV from residents showing trash and tire marks which they were not happy to see.

Provided Photo/Matt Duffy

"They are closing our community pools down for these events,” said Matt Duffy, a resident who lives near Garfield Park. “They are closing our kids’ playgrounds down for these events, and they leave it trashed after that when they leave. “

There were concerns from residents that the baseball field was going to have damage done to it, but Indy Parks says they haven’t seen any damage yet, and if there is, the company is responsible for it.

"We have not assessed any type of damage," said Ronnetta Spalding with Indy Parks.  “Through the agreement with WonderRoad, they are responsible for any type of field whether it's damage, whether it's parking or whether it's trash."

When WRTV visited the park on Wednesday, the trash was picked up and the company was dismantling the venue.

Provided Photo/Matt Duffy

Elevation Festivals owns and operates WonderRoad Music Festival. It says they are dedicated to making sure the park is returned to pristine condition.

"Anywhere we go and any city we go, we want to leave behind the grounds better than we came into,” said Danny Young, the President of Elevation Festivals. “Why is that? Because we want to come back year after year after year. "

However, some residents aren't comfortable with Garfield Park being used for a music festival venue at all.

"Personally, I don't think it belongs in a community park,” said Duffy. “The music yes, [but] the alcohol, it doesn't belong in a community park."

Elevation Festivals hosts events all over the country and says they are constantly working with local law enforcement.

"I am proud to say in nearly 10 years of doing an event like this, we've never had a single arrest," said Young.

Other people who live in the area were also concerned that the road through the park and the pool were closed for the weekend. Indy Parks says it's something they did as a safety precaution.

"We did not want to kind of interfere with their ability to enjoy the pool and enjoy other amenities so we may indeed need to have more of those closures as it makes sense,” said Spalding.

Elevation Festivals say they will be packed up and out of Garfield Park by Thursday. Landscaping to repair any damage may take slightly longer. Since the announcement of the festival, the company planned to donate $25,000 to Indy Parks.